Creating, formatting, and saving ad hoc reports

You can create ad hoc reports by using the SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence (BI) Web Intelligence Application, which is accessible from the launch pad. For details about navigating the launch pad, see Navigating-the-interface.

BMC Decision Support - Database Automation universe for creating reports
Query Panel
Creating an ad hoc report
Formatting an ad hoc report
Saving an ad hoc report
Related topics

When you create an ad hoc report, you create a report definition. The report definition specifies the data that will be included in the report, including the ways that you can filter the data.

This topic provides an overview of the instructions for creating and formatting reports. For comprehensive information about creating and formatting reports, see the SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence User's Guide at PDFs.

BMC Decision Support - Database Automation universe for creating reports

You use objects in the universe to create ad hoc reports. The universe provides a semantic layer for accessing the data that is displayed in the reports. In addition, it contains definitions for dimensions, measures, and conditions that are mapped to the physical views and tables in the underlying BMC application, in this case, BMC Database Automation.

The BMC Decision Support – Database Automation universe is called bds_da_unv.

To create reports, you must understand the classes and objects in the universe. For information about the classes and objects in the BMC Decision Support – Database Automation, see the information in the attached Execl Sheet.

The universe includes several types of objects that you can use to build your reports, including the following:

Universe object	Icon	Description
Dimension		Dimensions represent non hierarchical data that can provide the basis for analysis in a report. Dimensions typically retrieve character-type data, such as names or dates. For example, in the Jobs folder, User is a dimension and it returns the name of the user that requested a BMC Database Automation job.
Measure		Measures retrieve data, usually numeric, that is the result of calculations on data in the database. For example, in the Jobs Folder, Count of Successful Jobs is a measure and it returns the number of successful jobs.
Query Filter		Query filters limit the data returned to a document. They retrieve only the values that meet the query filter definitions. There are several types of query filters, such as the following: A prompt is a dynamic filter that displays a question every time you refresh the data in a document. You answer prompts by either typing or selecting the values you want to view before you refresh the data. The query then retrieves only the values you specified from the database and returns those values to the report. Quick filters allow you to quickly define the values you want to retrieve for a specific result object without opening the Filter Editor. By default, Quick filters use the Equal to operator if you select a single value or the In List operator if you select multiple values.

When you hover over objects in the universe, tool tip descriptions of the objects provide information that might be helpful.

In general, when you create a report, you want to combine a measure object with with appropriate dimension objects. For example, to design a report about jobs and the number of successful and failed jobs, you would use objects from the Jobs folder in the Universe, such as the Job id dimension, with the Count of Successful Jobs and Count of All the Jobs measures.

Query Panel

Query Panel enables you to use objects from the universe while creating an ad hoc report. The universe objects appear in the left pane and the report creation area appears in the right pane.

Creating an ad hoc report

In the SAP BusinessObjects BI launch pad, from My Applications, open Web Intelligence Application .
Click Create a new document .
Click Universe.
Click OK.
Click bds_da_unv to select the BMC Decision Support – Database Automation universe as the data source, and then click Select.

The Query Panel opens.
In the Query Panel, drag query items from the universe folders in the left pane to the right pane to build your report queries to and specify prompts.

Note
While creating an adhoc report, if you use the result of a query as a value in another query filter, the following error message appears: ORA-00936: missing expression.
Workaround: By default, when creating a custom query, BusinessObjects BI creates an alias for the result of the subquery (for example, @dpvalue('D', DP0.DO215)). To resolve the issue, replace the alias with the exact subquery.
When you finish setting up the report, click Run Query .
If you added a prompt to your report and it requires input, you are prompted to provide a value. Specify the prompt value.
In the following example, a time period value is required and Last 30 Days is selected.
Click OK.
The report is displayed. This is called the report definition.

Formatting an ad hoc report

When you create a report, default formatting and a default title are used for the report definition. You can rename the report and format it in Web Intelligence Application. There are numerous formatting options. For information about using the formatting capabilities, see the BusinessObjects Web Intelligence User's Guide at PDFs.

Saving an ad hoc report

To save your report, click Save, select the location, such as a folder in My Favorites, and click Save again.

Note

BMC recommends that you save new report definitions in a folder that is not provided by BMC Software so that the new reports do not get overwritten during an upgrade. For example, you can save reports in the My Favorites folder.